You're right that that career trajectory is not something to sneeze at. But I don't think it's a case for locking him up long term for big money either. I think it's a case to get as much as you can out of him in your window (which still has three more seasons where his production out-weighs the contract) and then cut him loose. Because odds are he isn't going to live up to the dollars an extension would cost. He's going to win a Cy Young in the next three years.

Fair point that I don't necessarily disagree with, but not all extensions are created equally. Surely Sale and his agent know the possibility for catastrophic injury exist so whose to say they wouldn't sign an extension that's relatively team-friendly? Considering everyone basically agrees the guys arm could explode at any given moment, maybe the idea of securing his financial future for life outweighs the potential megabucks he could earn in free agency if he wait another 4 seasons. That's approximately 128 starts he's got to navigate.

I would also consider it because the Sox so frequently have to combat the perception they are "cheap." Not great PR to cut a guy with this kind of talent over dollars and cents. But again, it would have to be for the right price. I'm certainly not interested in paying Sale #1 SP market rate for 6+ seasons. That would probably be a bad investment.